Materials Scientist/Engineer – Plasma Facing Components (Fusion)

Location: hirify.global Culham, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom; regular onsite presence, usually five days per week

Salary: £57,117 per year, inclusive of a £5,800 specialist allowance

Company

hirify.global develops fusion energy technologies and partners with industry and research organisations to support future power stations.

What you will do

• Lead the development, testing and qualification of copper alloys, tungsten and other plasma-facing component materials for STEP.
• Organise and coordinate projects exceeding £100k, including specimen and data procurement, scopes of work, funding, resources, testing and modelling.
• Define materials requirements for in-vessel plasma-facing components and provide technically robust materials-engineering support.
• Deliver novel nuclear materials research, compile technical reports and present results in internal meetings and high-impact publications.
• Lead and manage material scientists or PhD students during projects, experiments and modelling activities.
• Manage external collaborators, contribute to design rules and knowledge bases, secure funding, and represent hirify.global at conferences and specialist working groups.

Requirements

• PhD in a relevant subject, or equivalent learning through an HNC, apprenticeship or degree combined with work experience.
• Significant research-oriented experience in a laboratory, materials research group or experimental campaign.
• Essential expertise in developing and testing copper-alloy heatsink materials.
• Expertise in mechanical and thermophysical property testing for engineering design and materials performance data.
• Ability to work effectively in a team and explain complex technical information to specialist and non-specialist audiences.
• Ability to deliver high-quality results to tight timescales and budgets.
• Fluent written and spoken English.
• Digital literacy with MS Office, including Outlook, Word, Excel and PowerPoint.

Nice to have

• Knowledge of tungsten as an armour material for plasma-facing components.

Culture & Benefits

• Fixed-term appointment until March 2029.
• Full-time employment with flexible working options where compatible with the role.
• Up to 7% corporate performance bonus.
• Final-salary defined-benefit pension scheme with an equivalent employer contribution of 21.5%.
• 25 days of annual leave, 2.5 privilege days, 8 bank holidays and 3 additional site-closure days over Christmas.
• Family-friendly leave provisions and an inclusive, accessible working environment.